Flexible staff-holder.



C. D. LYNCH.

FLEXIBLE STAFF HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED 1120.2, 1910 1,013,410, Patented Jan.2, 1912.

wwzmww. MA? m (375% m a?" CHARLES D. LYNCH, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

FLEXIBLE STAFF-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2,1912.

Application filed December 2, 1910'. Serial No. 595,246.

To all whom it may comma:

Be it known that I, Crmnnss D. LYNCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flexible Staff- Holders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the char acte'rs of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a holder for flags and pennant staffs, especially designed for use upon boats, but adaptable for other uses, and consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set forth and pointed out particularly in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a holder for flag staffs and other poles, wherein the arrangement is such as to allow the staff to swing to an incline from a vertical in any direction when encountering an object, such as a low bridge, the boom of. a. sail, piles at docks and boat landings, and other projections, provision being made for returning the socket member of the holder carrying the staff to a vertical position after the obstrutf ion has been passed, and for Varying the tension of the flexible connection between the socket member and base, so as to give the, holder the required rigidity.

The above object is attained by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a staff holder embodying my invention, showing a staff in the socket member thereof, and illustrat ing the manner of securing the lower or base member to the deck of a boat, or other support. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section through the holder and the base of the staff in the socket member thereof, the upper portion of the staff being broken away. Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the socket member of the holder tilted and the connecting spring between the socket member and base flexed to accommodate said movement, the staff and the lower portion of the base member being broken away. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View through the parts of the holder disassembled, the connecting spring appearing in elevation.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates a tubular part which depends from the base member 2 of the holder which is provided with a flat bearing face 3 and with laterally projecting ears or flanges 4 through which screws 5 may be passed to secure the'hoider to the deck 0 of a boat or to any other support. At the lower end of the tubular member 1, the longitudinal opening 7 thcrethrcugh is contracted; the wall of said contracted portion being threaded, as shown at 8. The upper portion of the holder comprises a socket member 9 having a stalf socket 10 therein and having a central aperture 11 leading from said socket and extending longitudinally through said member. The lower end of the socket member is provided with a flat face 12 which coincides with the fiat face 3 of the base member, so that when said faces are placed contiguous, the members of the holder will stand in axial alineme'nt. The up or end of the opening 11 in the socket mem )er is contracted at its point of communication with the socket 10, and the wall of said member surrounding the contracted portion of said opening is threaded, as shown at 13. The upper and lower members or parts of the holder are connected by a lightly coiled expansibl e spring 14, the trend of whose coil coincides with the trend of the threads 8- and 13, enabling the arts or members of the holder to be flexi ly cou led together by screwing the terminals 0 said spring into the threaded ortions of the openings therethrou h, as c early shown in Fig. 2, whereby t e tension of said spring is exerted to normally hold the flat faces 3 and 12 of said arts together and maintain them in axial a inement. It will be noted that the spring is. en aged at its terminals only by the threads portions of the members of the holder, an arrangement which leaves the entire portion of the spring between its ends free to expand under longitudinal strain. A

The staff 15 is secured in the socket 10 of the member 9 by means of a collar 16 which screws onto the upper end of the socket member and whose marginal portion 17 around the opening therein, through which the stall passes, en ages a shoulder 18 on the stall, as shown in 4 ig. 2, to prevent the withdrawal of the staff from the socket. The flexibility of the spring 14-. is such that when the staff encounters an obstruction, said sprin will yield and allow the socketmember 0% the holder to tilt in any direct 1on, as shown in Fig. 3, and by dotted lines in Fig. 2, thereby relievin the stall from all straln and preventing it ecoming broken. After the staff shall have passed free from the obstruction, the tension of said spring will restore the parts to their normal position, as shown in Fig. 1. By connecting the members of the holder together, as shown, the joint between them is rendered universally flexible, whereby the stall is allowed to yield against force applied in any direction. lthe tension of the spring may be varied to 1ncrease or decrease its resisting force by turning the upper socket member so as to screw said spring through the threaded parts, or unscrew it therefrom. When mounted upon the deck Got a boat, the tubular member 1 projects through the deck, as shown. in Figs. 1 and 2. The object in having the tubular member relatively long, as shown, is to enable the use of a spring of such length as to'afi'ord the required flexibility.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A stafl' holder comprising a stationary base member, an oscillatory socket member mounted thereon, to tilt a flexible and elastic element connecting said members to effect a universal joint between them, the axis of oscillation of said socket member being at one side of the lon itudinal axis of said elastic element to e set a longitudinal stress thereon when the socket member is tilted and means for varying the tension of said flexible member.

2. A staff holder comprising a base member having a fiat top, a movable socket member having a flat bottom portion adapted to rest upon the top of the base member, and

a flexible element connecting said members to efi'ect a universal joint between them.

3. A stall holder comprising a base member having a fiat top, a movable socket member having a fiat bottom portion adapted to rest upon the top of the base member, a flexible spring connecting said members to effect a universally flexible joint between them, and means for varying the tension on said spring.

4. A staff holder comprising a base mem her, a socket member mounted on the base member in 'axial alinement therewith, a flexible spring crossing the jointbetween said men'lbers to normally retain the socket member in position, the terminals of said spring being threaded in the base and socket members, respectively.

5. A staff holder comprising a base member having an aperture therethrough, a movable socket member mounted on the base member and having a longitudinally extending aperture which normally alincs with the aperture through the base member, each oi said members having a thread in the wall thereof at one end of the aperture therethrough, and a coiled spring lying within said members and crossing the joint therebetween, the terminals of said spring being screwed into the threaded portions of the operliings through said members, respective 6. h staff holder comprising a hollow base member, a hollow socket member mounted on the base member, a flexible spring within said members crossing the joint between them, the terminals of said spring being threaded in said members rcspeetively, to enable the tension thereof to be varied by a rotation of one of said members about its axis.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES D. LYNCH. lVitnesses:

E. S. WHEELER, I. G. HowLET'r. 

